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This week’s Washington Watch offers an in-depth look at ongoing governmental transformations spearheaded by figures like Elon Musk, now tasked with streamlining the federal workforce. Learn about the proposed budget changes and potential impacts on taxpayer accountability from leading political voices. Senator James Lankford shares insights from his new government waste report, highlighting areas that demand reform for better fiscal stewardship. Additionally, the episode navigates the complex intersection of faith and politics with a focus on Christian civic engagement. Discover how the Family Research Council’s initiatives, from the Pray, Vote, Stand campaign to educational courses on God and government,
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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We have this unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has in a lot of ways currently more power than any elected representative. And this is not something that people want. And it does not match the will of the people. So it’s just something we’ve got to fix.
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That was Elon Musk yesterday in the Oval Office as President Trump issued an executive order granting the Office of Government Efficiency greater oversight of the federal workforce. Welcome to this Wednesday edition of Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, the Trump Justice Department is fighting back against a New York federal judge who has blocked Doge from accessing information at the Department of the Treasury. Oklahoma Senator James Langford will join us later with his efforts to identify and eliminate the wasteful use of taxpayer money as well. And Senator Lindsey Graham held a committee hearing today on his measure intended to jumpstart the budget reconciliation process.
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The problem we have now is that ICE is running out of money. And to my colleagues in the House, I hope you can pass one big, beautiful bill, meeting the priorities of President Trump and what we’ve been promising to do as a party. But we’ve got to move on this issue.
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The House released the text of its bill today, which will be in committee tomorrow morning. Indiana Congresswoman Erin Houchin, a member of the House Budget Committee, will join us in just a moment. Meanwhile, an increasingly common and costly practice is for an outgoing presidential administration to adopt a slew of policies, costly policies, for which they can’t be held accountable by voters. Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs was on the House floor yesterday introducing the Midnight Rules Relief Act, which will make it easier for Congress to overturn those last-minute rules.
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We got about 1,400 rules, and maybe six of them were worth a tinker’s damn. And that means the rest of them have to be reviewed. And it’s important for the American people to understand that that administration imposed about $1.35 trillion worth of rules on them in the last year alone.
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The bill that Congressman Biggs was talking about passed the House just moments ago, and Congressman Biggs will join us later here on Washington Watch. Well, in my home state of Louisiana, Governor Jeff Landry is pulling back the curtain on bias in higher education. The issue is with a perverted law professor, and I use that word intentionally after reading the final exam that the professor gave to his students. Well, this professor used explicit language in the classroom aimed at the Republican governor and President Trump. Also, the students who voted for President Trump right after the election. Governor Landry joins us to share more about what is now a court case with an LSU law professor. All of that and more coming up on this edition of Washington Watch. Well, as we talk about the election, the 2024 election results brought a much needed reprieve to our nation. However, however, reaching our friends and neighbors with the truth means Christians must understand our role in continuing to impact and shape our government. which is why i’m excited to announce the launch of our new 13-week series god and government course it’s a video driven bible-based training course designed for anyone wanting to make a cultural political and spiritual impact on your community it launches this coming monday president’s day and a new session of god and government will release in the stand firm app each monday for the next 13 weeks but guess what you don’t have to wait till monday you can watch the course introduction and take the pre-test to prepare for for Episode 1. It comes out this coming Monday. To access the God and Government Course, simply text the word COURSE to 67742. That’s COURSE to 67742. Earlier today, the House Budget Committee unveiled its budget blueprint for the next decade. the plan would allow for at least four point five trillion in tax cuts while slashing spending by at least one point five trillion dollars over the coming decade and if it comes five days after the uh… it comes five days after the senate budget committee unveiled its FY 2025 budget resolution, which is currently in markup. So with the two budget blueprints now out, how might Republicans move forward? What’s the timetable? Here to discuss this and more is Congresswoman Erin Houchen. She is the Republican conference secretary and a member of four House committees, including the Budget Committee. She represents the 9th Congressional District of Indiana. Congresswoman Houchen, welcome to Washington Watch. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER 11 :
Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 03 :
So let’s talk about the major spending priorities and reductions that are in this plan.
SPEAKER 11 :
Sure. Well, we are working hard. The House Republican Conference has been working in earnest since November to help deliver on President Trump’s priorities. This budget resolution that we’re prepared to pass tomorrow in the Budget Committee will set the stage and the framework for our discussions in reconciliation to deliver on those priorities. So we’re looking to… to save $1.5 trillion at a minimum in this budget resolution, which has never been done before. We’re looking at delivering on Trump’s priorities like Tax Cuts and Jobs Act extensions, no tax on tips. a manufacturing made in America corporate tax rate at 15%. These are things that we think we can deliver on for the American people that we’re eager to do on behalf of President Trump and his agenda. But also I would say that we’re trying to do that in the most fiscally responsible way that we can given the fact that our debt and our deficit are really skyrocketing and we need to be cognizant of that.
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There are some that says if these cuts are made, we reduce the size of government, that it’s going to spur economic activity and the savings could be even greater than what we see here laid out in the budget plan.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s absolutely true. If you look at what growth numbers we’re projecting, we are projecting 2.8% growth. That’s pretty consistent, slightly higher than the 50-year average, although growth trends currently are much higher than that. If you factor in the savings that the president and Elon Musk are finding through Doge and their processes, they predict, they think they can find $1 to $2 trillion in additional savings. So that’s all going to deregulation, creating efficiencies in the federal government. All of that should help us on the benefit side of growth, which will help pay for some of these tax priorities that are the president’s priorities and House Republicans.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, Congresswoman, there’s only so much in terms of discretionary spending that Congress can deal with. You’ve got the mandated spending. How does this budget deal with that?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, we are looking at things that we can do on the mandatory side because you’re right. Mandatory spending is what’s driving our debt and our deficit, not discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is a very small drop in the bucket compared to what we’re spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. So there are discussions about ways we can find savings in Medicaid funds. eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, which is obviously hand-in-hand with DOGE, but also things like work requirements for the able-bodied or right-sizing our federal reimbursements for the expansion population. Right now, if you’re disabled, a pregnant woman, or the elderly, this federal match for healthcare is 70% to 30%. federal to state. But if you’re in the expansion population and are able-bodied, the federal match for that under the Affordable Care Act has been 90% from the federal government to 10% to the state. So we’re looking at those.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let me stop so people catch what you just said. So those who are able-bodied that could actually work, The disproportionate share, the federal government is giving 90 percent, paying 90 percent of that, the state 10 percent. Correct. You know, one is one possible approach. I mean, block granting some of this to the states because the states aren’t going to pay that because they’re not just they’re not going to do it. There’s too much accountability at the local level.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that 90-10 was kind of the carrot that in the Obama years and following encouraged states to expand the Affordable Care Act by having that federal match be so lucrative. We do need to right-size that. And so through federal block grants, I think that is something we can look at. We don’t want to impact benefits. And so I think it’s important to note that the president has been very, very clear that he doesn’t want any impact to benefits. He doesn’t want to change Social Security benefits. But there are things, creative things that I think we can do to find savings in mandatory spending, particularly in Medicaid.
SPEAKER 03 :
So just to be very clear, no one’s saying that we need to push granny off the cliff in the wheelchair.
SPEAKER 11 :
Correct. That is not going to happen under Republican leadership, although we might hear some of that rhetoric from Democrats on the other side of the aisle who do try to say anything we’re doing is usually hurting babies and children and puppies and grandma. But they’re going to be just fine. We’re going to protect working families and retirees and everyday Americans. We are protecting them in our policies that we’re putting forward through reconciliation. and we are being fiscally responsible about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Congresswoman Houchin, the reality is that the path that our spending is on is unsustainable. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s correct. And so, you know, I’m looking at things like ways that we can get creative about the future of Social Security. Nothing like what we have, you know, that would affect anybody that is a current or nearing retirement. But things like putting $1,000 in an account when a baby is born and allowing parents to invest that for 65 years through the S&P 500. These are creative solutions that are being discussed around the hill for ways to protect and safeguard social security in the future without impacting, you know, nearing or current retirees. And those are ways we’re going to get us better on a better fiscal path. But we have to tackle mandatory spending to do it. And that’s why we’re having those conversations.
SPEAKER 03 :
So with this bill that’s going to be marked up tomorrow, it’ll be in committee tomorrow, be moving forward probably a vote a week after next. I think Congress is back in the district next week. This tees up a vote for the following week. So has the issue been resolved in terms of going forward with budget reconciliation? Is it a one-bill or two-bill approach?
SPEAKER 11 :
Look, the House view is that we need a one-bill approach. I firmly believe if we don’t do everything we can in one bill, we will have the potential to fail on tax reform, which cannot happen. If we fail to deliver permanency on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or an extension of that, we will deliver the largest tax increase in American history, which I will not support, obviously, and neither will Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith. So we’re working in earnest. I think the one bill approach is the best way to get all of our priorities, including not letting tax lapse. And so we’re going to keep pushing for that. The Senate has a different plan. But the first step is this budget reconciliation bill, the instructions that we’re going to pass out of committee tomorrow. And when that happens, that will be like the starting line for the race. And we will be allowed to be off to the races once this bill gets out of committee and get to the real work, which is negotiating things like this with the Senate.
SPEAKER 03 :
So final question for you. We’re up against a break, Aaron. So what’s the total time? When do you think this might get to the president’s desk?
SPEAKER 11 :
You know, I don’t have a number of when it might get to the president’s desk. I can tell you that the resolution we should pass out by nine o’clock tomorrow night. We do have a markup in budget committee tomorrow that will start at nine in the morning and is expected to go all day into the evening with votes around nine o’clock tomorrow night. Then we will have our district work period and then be back again. So we will vote the resolution out sometime the following week and it’ll be shipped off to the Senate where the parliamentarian will have to give their two cents on whether or not it stands. So still a lot of work to be done. We’re committed to seeing it through and working with the president to achieve his priorities.
SPEAKER 03 :
But it has started. Tomorrow we see moving forward. Erin Houchin, thank you so much for joining us. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Nice to see you. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. All right. We’re going to watch it. It’s interesting. The Senate’s going to be, you know, they’re pushing the two-bill approach, the House moving forward with the one-bill approach. We’ll see who gets it across the line. All right, coming up next, Congressman Andy Biggs joins us. So don’t go away. More Washington to watch straight away.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 was a year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. Last fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government, Launching early this year in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us, and we look forward to 2025 and standing for faith, family, and freedom.
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Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC’s Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into Scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God’s Word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Glad to have you with us on this Wednesday. All right. Republicans in the House are looking for a smarter, faster way for Congress to stop harmful regulations that administrations inundate Congress with on their way out, passing dozens of policies, costly policies. And there’s no accountability. Well, a bill that just passed the House just moments ago seeks to empower lawmakers to remove last-minute rules, such as the Biden administration passed through a much faster process than the current one, potentially saving more than a trillion dollars in taxpayer money. With government efficiency being the buzzword in Washington right now, how will this bill fare? in Congress. Joining me now to discuss it is the bill’s author, Congressman Andy Biggs, who is a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, as well as the House Judiciary Committee. He represents the 5th Congressional District of Arizona. Congressman Biggs, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Tony. Good to be with you. Well, congratulations. Your bill, the Midnight Rules Act, Relief Act, just passed. Explain what it does to our viewers and listeners.
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Yes, in its most simplest form, people need to understand that we have a process now where we can review a rule done in the last little bit of a president’s term, is their final term. But we can only do one rule at a time. So if you’ve got the gas, you can’t use gas heaters, you can only do that rule. So what my bill does is it allows us to take and aggregate as many of these rules as we feel is necessary, put them into one and have your debate and vote to either keep those rules in place or reject them. So it speeds up the whole process. And that’s really important because, Tony, you’re not going to believe this. I think people find it hard to believe, but in the last few months of the Biden administration, They passed and instituted by final rule more than 14, almost 1,500 regulations. And the Democrats were arguing that two or three of them were really good. Well, I told them, if they’re so good, then do a piece of legislation and try to get them through. But you can’t give it to the unelected bureaucrats. And that’s what they’re doing.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is… you’re talking about 1,500 rules, regulations that did not go through the legislative process. They were just in the final months of the administration when they knew there was no accountability, they adopt these rules. Now, this cuts both ways. So it’s not just against Democrats or Republicans. This just holds any outgoing administration accountable to the next Congress.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s exactly right. I mean, as I pointed out, Clinton, Bush and Obama. So you got Republicans and Democrats there each did about two and a half times the number of regulations in their last couple of months that they did the whole rest of their term. So, uh, You can see how they try to cram this thing through, and Nadler called it today, Jerry Nadler from New York called it the Biden regulatory agenda. That’s exactly what it is. It is to regulate, not… And so that… Not to legislate. So they want to regulate. We want to legislate.
SPEAKER 03 :
To me, this is good government legislation because it’s not biased toward one party or another. Although I would say it’s usually the Democrats that want to govern by bureaucracy. But this holds that, you know, you look at the numbers, the numbers speak for itself. Why do they do this in the final days? Again, because there’s very little accountability. They don’t want the wrath of the media and the voting population to possibly impact an election. By doing this throughout their term, they want to do it in the final days.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s exactly right. And they know that under the current scheme, Congress can’t review more than any. I think we’ve never been able to review more than maybe a dozen or 15 rules. And so when they’re passing 1,000 or 1,500 rules, they know that there’s just simply not enough time to actually go through the process for more than maybe a dozen or so rules. And one thing that you pointed out in your monologue about this is these rules, if you were to set aside all of them, which I don’t suspect we’ll do that, but if you did, the cost and impact of those regulations on our federal budget and the economy by the Biden administration’s own admission is $1.34 trillion. $1.34 trillion. That’s…
SPEAKER 03 :
astounding that by rule and regulation passed in the 11th hour or at midnight, $1.3 trillion. That’s huge.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s unbelievable. And as I was trying to make the argument today… Look, the legislative branch is supposed to be the most dominant of the three powers, of the three branches of government. But when we delegate all this authority to these unelected bureaucrats, all of a sudden you’ve created what scholars would call the fourth branch, the administrative state. And we don’t have the wherewithal to rein them in. My bill allows us to rein them in.
SPEAKER 03 :
How many Democrats voted for this? None. None. None? There’s not a single good government Democrat in the House?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, not on this issue. They view it as some nefarious thing. I don’t understand really all their positions. They kind of made up stuff to argue against it, but they did not want us to set aside Biden-era regulations. And they refused to acknowledge that At the end of Trump’s term, they could do the same thing to him.
SPEAKER 03 :
But if I’m not mistaken, in the last Congress, when this was introduced, it actually had some bipartisan support.
SPEAKER 07 :
We might have got one or two Democrats, not more than that, Tony.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. That’s telling in and of itself. Now, what do you expect happens when it goes over to the Senate?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I’m hoping that there’s some folks in the Senate that really care about good government, and they look at it and they say, this is going to allow us to review things faster and take care of things the way we should. I’m not overly optimistic, but I am hopeful that maybe there’s some Democrats that will agree with this.
SPEAKER 03 :
So you haven’t sat down and had coffee with Chuck Schumer and he’s agreed to support it? So in the meantime, a final question here for you. In the meantime, are you going to be doing the Review Act using one at a time to pick out the most onerous?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, well, we have some ideas on some we might want to get at, but we’re going to wait and see if this gets through the Senate. Because if it gets through the Senate, President Trump has already said he would sign it, and it would become law, and then we could go ahead and start through the process in the House, and we would.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I hope you’re successful. It’s a good piece of legislation and much needed in the form of accountability. Andy Biggs, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 07 :
My pleasure, Tony. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs. All right. When we come back, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry joins me to discuss a court case involving an LSU law professor. Don’t go away.
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Oh, beautiful for spacious skies.
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At the 2025 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, hundreds gathered with Christian and government leaders at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. to pray for the nation and ask God to forgive us of our sins.
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We gather here not to appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are appealing to heaven. Today we make our appeal not in the authority of a political party or in the name of a denomination. We come in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ. who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have been commissioned to operate in that authority.
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Father, we pray in Jesus’ name for our complacency, our greed, our pride, our gluttony, our sloth, and tolerance of sin.
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Lord, your word is the food that can make America healthy again. May your word be exalted and believed in our nation again. Lord, we ask that you allow us to become that shining city on the hill once more for your love, your grace, and your mercy.
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Thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy, for the opportunity that you have provided us to heal our land. We ask you to do it, Lord. We ask you for the wisdom, discernment, and stamina to do the thing that you have called each one of us, all of us here, to do. May we be found faithful. We trust it, pray it, believe it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Well, late yesterday, a Louisiana district court judge ordered Louisiana State University to allow a suspended law professor to return to his teaching duties while the university looks into possible violations of school policies related to speech. LSU law professor Ken Levy has been removed from the classroom. He was removed last month after remarks he made during a class lecture that included profanity-laced criticisms against both President Trump and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and those who voted for Trump. So what’s next in this case, and why is this significant? Joining me now to discuss this is the governor of Louisiana, Governor Jeff Landry. Governor, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Tony, thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. I shared a few of the details on this. Provide a little more color commentary here without the language.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. I mean, look, Tony, this is unfortunately what I believe this is, is a macro look into a macro problem into our universities. This professor completely went into the classroom in a very unprofessional manner, used very expensive vulgar language and explicatives while describing different people. He talked about me. That’s irrespective of that. The media is trying to make this about me. It’s not about me. It’s about his particular conduct. Then he claimed that he had a First Amendment right. And then we found out today, we got a hold. He used to have all of these tests online. And we found out today, finally got a copy of a test that he gave out that basically talks about a 17-year-old having sex with a pumpkin in his in his in his hypothetical and then talks about a pedophile and he talks about how this pedophile is a Republican. And I mean, this is just not the type of conduct that we would expect Of a professor, especially even in a law school. So this is a person who holds a law degree and it is teaching law at the Louisiana State University. I just I really don’t know. It is the most… Governor, I looked over.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is the final exam that he gave to his students. I actually read over it, looked at it. I was actually speechless. Right! It is beyond offensive. I’ll just tell you, as a psychology minor, This reveals a perverted mind of the professor, that this would be his focus, of course, projecting it on to Republicans in his narrative, his hypothetical that he gave to his students. But as a law professor, or any professor for that matter, They hold a position of influence in the classroom. And if I understand correctly, as I’ve read through this, listened to some of the transcript as he was being recorded, is that he intimidated his students. He demands his First Amendment right, his free speech, but he demanded that he not be recorded because he didn’t want the students passing on what he was saying behind closed doors.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, because that’s what liberals do. They demand the First Amendment right on them. But as long as they can impose their will on others. I mean, look, if you are a taxpayer in Louisiana, you need to read this. You need to look at this and ask yourself, do I want my tax dollars going to fund public universities who then hire immigrants? teachers to use that type of language in that type of way, create hypothets based upon very perverted and twisted demeanor in a classroom setting. I mean, that is, to me, the most offensive thing is that, look, if this was a completely private school and that’s what they wanted to do, that’s fine. But this is a public university.
SPEAKER 03 :
But he’s hiding behind tenure and free speech. As a tenured professor, he says he has free speech. He has taken this issue to court. A state judge stepped in and this case is not resolved, but he allowed him to go back to the classroom. Where does LSU stand on this?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, you know, the good thing is that LSU seems to be standing on the side of the students and on the side of dignity and on the side of recognizing that in institutional settings such as educational institutions, you don’t have the right to just say anything. Just like a person doesn’t have a right to go into a movie theater and yell fire. That’s the thing we keep missing out of this is that they’re like, well, we have a First Amendment right. You do. Professor, when you are a normal citizen, if you want to go out into the public square, you have a right. If you want to go into the sidewalk, you have a right to say certain things. But when you have a captured audience, when you are hired by a public university under which that public university has a conduct OK, they have a set of standards under which they expect their professors or their professors must adhere to. On top of that, he’s a lawyer. So there’s a set of professional responsibilities as lawyers. We have a code of professional responsibility. You could go into the courtroom. This judge is also professional. Out of bounds as well. We’re going to have to get the First Circuit or the Supreme Court to bring him in bounds. That’s nothing that shouldn’t surprise you here in the 19th JDC. But again, think about going into the courtroom and speaking like that or talking that way in front of a judge.
SPEAKER 03 :
it is beyond the limits. Governor, we’re up against a break, but I got a couple more questions for you. Can you stick around for the next segment? Because there’s a couple of paths forward here that Resolution through the courts, the courts allowing LSU to take the appropriate standards. There’s also the reality that the state legislature allocates funding for the LSU Law School. And if they’re operating in such a way that is contradictory to the standards that Louisiana wants to set, There could be repercussions there. So I want to talk about that on the other side of the break. My guest, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. We continue the conversation and also be hearing from Senator James Lankford. Don’t go away. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 09 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Thanks for joining us. All right. My my guest in carrying over into this segment, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, talking about a law professor who in the classroom used unregulated profanity. But it was more than that. It was designed to intimidate his students as he launched into President Trump after the election and those who voted for him. Now, I have to wonder, how would he have responded if students would have stood up and questioned his political orientation? Governor, thanks for sticking around in this. So how would he have responded if the same level of intimidating language would have been used back at him?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, what’s interesting is we found a paper that he wrote just, I believe, last year in 2023, under which he said that schools should have the right to discipline teachers who basically support President Trump. He gave this, again, this hypothet of teachers who may be supporting conservative causes or who were speaking out in support of Donald Trump. And he made the argument that the school in an educational setting should be able to discipline teachers in that setting because he said that those were radical ideas. I have to send you that as well. I forgot about that. But so here we have a professor who says one thing. When as long as you are in line with his ideology, but when you’re not, then he has a different standard.
SPEAKER 03 :
So, Governor, this is in the court. The court has put a stay on his removal for the classroom. So he’s back in the classroom, I think, as of today. What are what’s the next step in the courtroom?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, supposedly he should be back in the classroom tomorrow, but it doesn’t mean that the university has to put students in that classroom. That’s what I would tell them is that, look, just because he gets to go in the classroom, the judge can’t force the students into the classroom. Many of the students have already been reassigned. If they want to go to this class, that would be fine. We took an emergency. I think we but LSU took an emergency writ to the First Circuit. Look, I think the First Circuit is going to reverse. They’ve already reversed it. once in a preliminary injunction. And the other thing I think is important to recognize that tenure does not protect him from this type of conduct. And guess what? If tenure protects a professor from this type of conduct, then maybe it’s time to abolish tenure.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And to your point, Governor, this is this is the micro of a macro problem. And that’s why you’re bringing attention to this. One final question for you, as I alluded to on the way out of the last segment, having been in the legislature, having been a part of the budget process there and knowing how LSU every year would be there wanting more money for their budget. That could be an issue. If LSU is not aggressive in reining in this type of behavior in the classroom, I mean, it could affect the budget.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, I can tell you, I spoke to a couple of different legislators who had an educational committee hearing today. I know that Chairman Schlegel, who’s on the House education side, they were aghast when I sent them this hypothetical. Just like you were, you become speechless when you read it. It’s almost shocking the mind, shocking your conscience. And I do believe that if the school does not take action, that there’s going to be repercussions for allowing professors to act like this in their classrooms.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I’m going to put this out. I’m going to take this final exam that this professor gave so people know what we’re talking about. I’m going to put it out online so people can see it after the program. Governor, we’re going to be tracking this very closely. And again, I appreciate you taking this fight on because as you’ve pointed out, and I want our listeners and viewers to understand this, this is not just a Louisiana issue. I’m focusing on it. Yes, it’s my home state of Louisiana. But this is a problem in these higher educational institutions across the country, and it’s time we address it.
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s correct. It’s time to quit indoctrinating and start educating.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, Governor Jeff Landry, thanks for joining us. Always great to see you. Thank you, Tony. All right, folks, I’ll get this out a little bit later. Probably got to sit it through my attorneys to look at, but we’ll get that up there. Well, our word for today comes from Jeremiah chapter 16, verses 10 through 12, where God reveals why judgment is coming upon his people. They ask, why has the Lord pronounced such disaster against us? What is our sin? Well, the answer is clear. Their ancestors abandoned God. They worshiped idols and ignored his commandments. Instead of learning from these mistakes, the current generation has acted even more wickedly, each person following the sinful desires of his own heart. They have normalized, they had normalized what was once merely tolerated, intensifying the moral decline across the generations. Through Jeremiah, God demonstrates that sin never remains stagnant. It grows if left unchecked. Like ancient Judah, we risk similar patterns. Whenever we dismiss divine truth and pursue our own paths, the passage reminds us that God does not delight in bringing judgment, but He remains just and cannot overlook persistent rebellion. It is a call to repent, break the cycle of inherited disobedience, and return to faithful worship. Ultimately, this sobering warning invites us to reflect on the responsibility each generation bears to honor God and uphold His Word. Just as Jeremiah warned, what one generation tolerates, the next may embrace and even celebrate, risking further separation from God. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, as I mentioned at the top of the program, President Trump yesterday signed an executive order to give more oversight to the federal government workforce, to the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE. In particular, DOGE will be working to reform the federal workforce to maximize efficiency and productivity, two things it has notoriously been known for not doing. Meanwhile, Democrats continue to rail against the new agency and its leader, Elon Musk. more upset over what he’s doing than what he and his team are finding. More proof that Democrats are out of touch with not only the will of the American people, but also the serious crisis that is facing our nation in terms of debt. Joining me now to discuss this is Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who serves on four Senate committees, including the Finance Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Senator Lankford, welcome back to the program.
SPEAKER 04 :
Always good to visit with you, Tony, always.
SPEAKER 03 :
And speaking of government waste, you have just released your own tracking down. You predate Elon Musk. You’ve been doing this for quite some time. Took it over from one of the previous senators from Oklahoma looking at government waste. Tell us about it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I put up what I call the Federal Fumble Book. This is our eighth edition of the Federal Fumble Book, and I’m glad to have Elon Musk actually joining the party on this. There have been several of us asking a simple question. Why doesn’t every single office in Congress actually assign their staff to go pursue waste and go expose it and then go find ways to be able to turn it around? We’ve been able to turn off a lot of waste over the past several years just by exposing it, and it causes it to be able to come down as people get embarrassed of it. We’re doing that again to be able to say, here are some major problems with this particular humble book, and we’re going to just call it out. And this time we’ve got reinforcements with Doge to surround it and say, let’s actually get this implemented. Of your latest report, what are some of the most egregious findings? Well, it’s always painful to be able to go through. We found $100 billion in Medicare and Medicaid that’s called improper payments that they literally don’t know if they were sent to the right spot on that. The same with the SNAP payments, $10 billion in SNAP payments. People don’t have an argument on getting assistance, people that need assistance, but people have a big problem with $10 billion going out the door. two and a half million dollars were sent to vietnam to do an electric vehicle battery lineup location uh there in vietnam i don’t know why we’re paying for that in vietnam uh we also have called out multiple different areas like in china we sent a billion dollars in subsidies a company for solar panel production if we’re going to do solar panel production we should probably be doing that here in the united states not actually subsidizing a chinese company for that So there’s a lot of areas that we’ve identified USAID sending money to the Taliban, to groups connected to Hamas. We just want to make sure that we call it out and we get it to stop.
SPEAKER 03 :
When you get into an annual budget in the trillions of dollars, you know, people play with this money as if it were monopoly. And they toss it around. And before you know it, it adds up. I mean, it adds up to hundreds of billions of dollars and I think even into the trillions of government waste.
SPEAKER 04 :
And for folks in Oklahoma, my state on it, if they’re paying $2,000 in taxes this year to their federal government, they expect that to go to roads and education and national defense. They’re not expecting that to go to a Chinese solar company to be able to subsidize them. They don’t want their dollars going there. They work hard to be able to earn that money. They just don’t want to waste it. Most every American and most every Oklahoman I talk to, they don’t mind paying taxes as long as it’s not wasted. Now it’s being wasted in multiple areas and they want it to stop.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, Senator Lankford, as I see Doge coming in, cutting spending and the president coming in and putting a higher freeze on and eliminating, you know, a lot of like USAID and some of these agencies that we’ve all had issues with how they’ve prioritized their spending. In some ways, this is kind of pushing the government toward zero-based budgeting so that instead of just layering money on top of money every year, as this clean-out takes place, it’s going to force them to justify any additional money in the future.
SPEAKER 04 :
It will. And what was interesting is people asked me at the very beginning, why is Elon Musk actually doing this? Why is it? Well, he’s run a lot of successful companies and tried to make them lean and efficient, but he also has the communication abilities to be able to push stories out. And quite frankly, this just goes away when people see the light of day, when it’s a government and an agency saying, well, I got this and they got this. And so we just made a deal on it. That may work behind the scenes, but when it sees daylight, that’s when people say, yep, that should have never been there in the first place.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s a really, really good point. I mean, what he brings to the table is his own megaphone when it comes about broadcasting what he is finding. Because, you know, you’ve done Yeoman’s work of putting out each year for eight years this report. But, you know, you get some conservative medias that’ll pick it up. I mean, you’re on our program talking about it each year. But you don’t have the megaphone of Elon Musk.
SPEAKER 04 :
I don’t have a billion Twitter followers, excuse me, a billion X followers that he has on it. So yeah, it’s a slightly louder megaphone on it to be able to get that out. But that’s important to be able to put it out because he not only puts out an area where it’s exposed about transgender comic books in Peru that we paid for, he can put that out there and be able to say, this has got to stop. But it actually starts a conversation to say, what else is there? That’s helpful both in state governments, because a lot of states are now starting their own Doge efforts. and also across federal agencies.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let me see if I can help. What’s your X handle so I can maybe get you a few more here today? I’m Senator Lankford, pretty straightforward. All right, folks. Follow Senator Lankford on X so you can get a few more and be up there kind of competing with Elon Musk. You also got your finger on the international pulse. You and I have traveled to Israel before, back when you were in the House. Let’s talk, if you will, for just a moment about the situation there. It appears the ceasefire may fall completely apart unless these hostages are released by Saturday.
SPEAKER 04 :
It may on that and I would tell you this is when Egypt and the Qataris need to engage with Hamas and any leverage in relationships they’ve got to say if we want this chaos to stop and the bloodshed to stop, they need to release the hostages. That’s the number one issue among Israel right now is the release of those hostages and Hamas continues to hold them and not just hold them. gloat that they’re holding them. And as we’ve seen from the last release of the hostages just a few days ago, they left looking like Holocaust survivors, just gaunt and frail from the way that they had been treated while they had been in Gaza. So it is exceptionally important to be able to get an end to this war, but that ends when those hostages are actually released.
SPEAKER 03 :
This really is Hamas’s last opportunity.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is actually. And Israel has been very, very clear on this. And quite frankly, President Trump’s made it very, very clear. Hamas needs to stop playing around with human life on this and actually release these hostages. Then the rest of the Arab community can wrap around them and say, what are we going to do to be able to rebuild Gaza and bring some stability? But for those leaders like Senwar that is still hiding out there in Gaza, they’re using children in front of them to be able to protect their life, the loss of life of children on that, because they don’t care about human life, whether it’s a hostage or a Palestinian child. The rest of the Arab community and the rest of the free world, they do care about human life and they want to see an end to this violence.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, Senator Langford, as we look back on what happened on October the 7th and since then with this devastating war that has taken place and our our. Our hearts are broken, not just for the 1,200 Israelis that were attacked on that day, but also the Palestinians that have suffered tremendously through this. I mean, it was unnecessary. This was on the shoulders of Hamas. But does this not put to rest, or should it not put to rest, this idea that there can be a divided Israel, a two-state solution there?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I would tell you, everyone wants to see some sort of option here at the end of the day, but you tell me who the Israeli leaders are going to sit down with. The Inep leadership that’s currently leading the Palestinian Authority, or they sit down with leaders of Hezbollah or of Hamas to be able to try to negotiate this. There are no leaders that are there to even sit down with and to have a negotiation with that want actual peace with Jews. They’re chanting from the river to the sea, meaning the death of all Jews and the expulsion of all Jews out of Israel. So when you’re negotiating with that group, it’s literally trying to say, we’re going to live at peace, but we’re not going to let you attack us and kill us. That’s the only option that you have at that point.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we are praying, praying for those hostages to be released by this Saturday and to see a managed peace return to the Middle East there in Israel. Senator James Lankford, always great to see you. Congratulations on your fumbles being released, your latest report on the government funding, and hopefully you’re going to make, Elon Musk is going to make a great team member for you as you continue your work to make government efficient.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yep. We need to waste less, save more. That’s a pretty simple thing that I think everybody should say is a nonpartisan thing to do. Let’s solve it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you just need to get some hats that say that. All right. Try to work on that acronym. All right. Yeah, it’s a big one. All right. Senator Langford, great to see you. Thanks for joining us. You as well. All right, folks, coming up on Monday, we release our God and Government course. It’s a 13-week online course, but you can take the introduction right now in the pre-test. Text the word course to 67742, course to 67742, so you’re prepared to engage. All right, we’re out of time for today. Thanks for joining us. But until next time, let me leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything that you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you have taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
